MIAMI MAYOR SEES BITCOIN MOVE AS WAY TO ATTRACT TECH

The city of Miami is seeking to embrace Bitcoin in its operations, a move that could bring dividends in terms of attracting technology companies, said Mayor Francis Suarez, pictured. The city commission late on Thursday approved in a 4-1 vote a first step in the mayor’s proposal to allow Bitcoin to be used to pay city workers and for city residents and businesses to make fee and tax payments with the cryptocurrency. “Cities like Miami, we’re trying to attract tech town,” Suarez said in a telephone interview. While an initial step involves finding a third-party vendor to facilitate Bitcoin transactions, the mayor also wants the Florida City, which ranks as the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, to explore investing a limited amount of its funds in Bitcoin as a longterm asset hedge.